The Day War Came by Nicola Davies - ESSENTIAL

The Day War Came by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Rebecca Cobb. PICTURE BOOK. Candlewick Press, 2018. $17. 9781536201734

BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) - ESSENTIAL. 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: LOW

The cover explains that this was “published in association with Help Refugees” and is a story that will be familiar to many refugee children. In first person from the point of view of a child, it starts by explaining that war came on a normal lovely day and then took over the main character’s whole world. It took people and homes, and forced her to walk and ride, and even swim, to a new land. There she found a dirty tent to call home and tried to find kindness on the streets and in the schools without luck. In the end, a child brings her a chair, symbolizing a place for her in his school.

This is a heavy book based on a poem written about chairs used symbolically to show that there is room for all. This is a crucial book for kids trying to understand the political conversations adults around them are having. It isn’t cheery, and may be disorienting for a student reading it alone, but it is important and with the help of a teacher could nourish a lot of compassion.  

Jen Wecker, HS English Teacher